Pizza Fest to return with new format, more offerings

Fri, Aug 26th 2016 10:40 am

Eventgoers line up at TC Wheelers Bar & Pizzeria during the Taste of the Tonawandas at Gateway Harbor. TC Wheelers will be just one of many vendors on hand for the return of Pizza Fest to North Tonawanda, which is set for Aug. 31 along Gateway Harbor in NT. (Photos by Lauren Zaepfel)

By Lauren Zaepfel

Tribune Editor

The
Chamber of Commerce of the Tonawandas and Gateway Harbor Inc. are partnering to
bring back Pizza Fest after an approximate three-year hiatus.

The event
will take place from 5-9 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 31, along Gateway Harbor at 245
Sweeney St. in North Tonawanda.

Featured
will be live music, ice cream and, of course, plenty of pizza.

Linda
Foels, president of Tonawandas Gateway Harbor Inc., said the main goal of the
event is to "focus on local pizzerias and let them get their product out
there."

At least seven
different vendors from the Tonawandas and Wheatfield areas are going to be on
hand, offering up their pizza, sides, subs and chicken wings.

Each vendor is
required to offer a traditional pepperoni and cheese pizza, as well as a
specialty pizza.

NT's Submasters
will be offering its chicken, bacon and ranch pizza as well as beer-battered,
deep-fried macaroni and cheese with bacon and its Philly cheesesteaks, owner
Thomas Daniels said.

TC Wheelers will
offer its Reuben pizza, which was voted best pizza at this year's Taste of the
Tonawandas.

All pizza slices
will be offered for a $1 ticket, which can be purchased at the event booth
stationed in the center of the venue.

Slices will be
about half the size of a traditional pizza pie slice, so people can taste more
options before filling up.

After trying a few
slices, eventgoers can vote for their favorite pizza.

For dessert,
Canalside Creamery will serve up some ice cream treats.

Although Pizza
Fest is making a comeback, Wednesday's event will feature new elements.

In previous years,
the pizzerias "donated all their pizza and their time. ... Businesses just can't
afford to do that anymore," Foels said. "So, we changed it to the Taste of the
Tonawandas format, where they give us a very small percentage of their cost so
we can pay for marketing and security and things like that. So it's back and in
a new format that favors the pizza places."

Angela R.
Johnson-Renda, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce of the Tonawandas,
said, "In the past, there was one entry fee and it was
all-you-can-eat. The pizzerias had a difficult time keeping up with the
number of people, including their families, who came hungry for pizza and
wings!"

Foels said Pizza
Fest used to be held indoors and only pizza was offered.

"We said, let's
take that (concept) and let's expand it so that its appeal to different types
of people and a lot more people," she said. "And now we have the benefit of ...
the aesthetics of Gateway Harbor. ... So we can expand for the pleasure of the
public."

The event is
admission-free, unlike previous Pizza Fests.

"The choice is
yours," Foels said. "You can spend a little; you can spend a lot; you can
listen to the music; you can sit and watch the canal - it's just so much more
appealing than just inside a building with an admission price."

So what inspired
both Foels and Johnson-Renda to take on their first Pizza Fest?

"It really was the
public," Foels said. "I mean, we try, through social media and through our
concerts and different activities, we try to listen to what the people want.
And the public, they've been requesting that the Pizza Fest return, and we
wanted to make it more appealing to everybody."

Indeed,
Johnson-Renda said, although the event "definitely was missed" it "needed some
tweaking."

"Since the last
Pizza Fest, citizens from both communities have been calling with inquiries as
to when the next one will be!" she said.

Also new this
year, the chamber and Gateway Harbor are joining with event sponsors to work
toward reimbursing all participating pizzerias with 85 percent of proceeds from
ticket sales, Johnson-Renda said.

But Fred Priano,
vice president of Gateway Harbor and manager at Jack Devine's Neighborhood Pub,
said the biggest benefit of Pizza Fest is it gives his the company exposure.

He said, by taking
part in the event, he hopes to get the Jack Devine's name out a little better
and give people more of a taste of what is offered.

"(And) we're
starting a new menu the day after (Pizza Fest). So, this way, we can get the
menu out to people. I do expect a lot of people out there, too," he said.

Daniels said, "You
get to see what the competition is doing, and you get to meet other people in
the community. ... I mean, we've been here six years, but there's still people
that don't realize (we're) here. There's a lot of people that, pretty much,
constantly depend on their standard, regular pizzeria they've been going to for
20 years, and it gives them a chance to try something new. We're not looking to
take anybody's business, but (provide) just a little different option."

And besides,
he said, "North Tonawanda is a great community. It's good any time you can get
some of the people together."

IF YOU GO:

5-9 p.m.: Food will be sold
(vendors may wish to extend selling until 10 p.m.)

6 p.m.: Busted Stuff performs
live

8 p.m.: River Rocks performs live

Shown is a slice of TC
Wheelers Reuben pizza. The specialty pizza will be offered at Pizza Fest and
was voted "best pizza" at the Taste of the Tonawandas.